The Gauntlet
by Captain 'Whiskers' Mooncat
Summary: It's family game night at the Watterson Household and everyone is feeling competitive, except for Gumball who is more concerned with having fun. Determined to make her son a winner, Nicole arranges a special challenge just for him. Gumball will have to face off against each family member in a game of their own choosing. Can he successfully defeat all four of them?
1. Chapter 1

**The Gauntlet: Chapter One**

It was family game night at the Watterson Household.

A weekly tradition that was supposed to be a fun exercise in bringing the family closer together. However, for all intents and purposes, it only seemed to bring out the worst in everyone.

No matter what the game was, a bit of friendly competition always cascaded into an intense grudge match. As per usual, Nicole Watterson was full of competitive spirit and eager to get down to business with her game of choice.

As the leader of the household, Nicole wore her title of _breadwinner_ with great pride and took the latter part, _very _seriously.

Deep inside of her was a fierce, inherent and ever present desire to win. A force that compelled her to achieve victory in everything she did, no matter what it was. Some might say 'winning isn't everything' but to Nicole, it might as well be.

As a mother, Nicole believed it was her duty to embody the same principles into her children. She deemed it necessary for them to be successful in life, as she had been, if not even more.

Subsequently, when given something as simple as a board game, Nicole's influence made everything seem like an all out competition.

With all the game pieces precisely positioned and properly put in place, they were ready to play.

"Okay everyone," said Nicole, commanding everyone's attention. "Here are the rules. Each player must draw a card. To decide who gets to draw first, we flip a coin. To decide who gets to flip the coin, we roll the dice. To decide who gets what number on the dice, we start by-"

As Nicole continued to explain the rules with her eyes set squarely on the instructions, the others made themselves more comfortable where they sat. Particularly Gumball, who sat at the table with his head down, resting on crossed arms.

This would obviously take a while and he had already grown bored and was close to dozing off.

"Dude, wake up," said Darwin, giving his brother a little nudge. "You gotta pay attention if you wanna win."

"Yeah yeah, I'm listening…" replied Gumball, perking up his ears but leaving his head down.

Anais threw a quick glance in his direction before continuing to make her detailed notes.

"Sure you are..." she chimed in sarcastically.

"Um Anais," said Darwin. "It's a board game, not an exam..."

"Potato, _potahto_, same difference," she dismissed him with a shrug. "All I know is that_ I'll _be taking first place this time."

"Nuh uh," Darwin shook his head. "This week, it'll be _my _turn to shine!"

"Hoho, that's nice son," said Richard, gently patting him on the head. "But this one is all _mine_. Candyland is my speciality!"

The two siblings groaned in frustration before Anais spoke again.

"Dad, for the last time, we're _not _playing Candyland. It's Mom's turn to pick this week."

"B-But I _like_ Candyland..." said Richard, dejectedly.

"We know, we know," Anais replied with sympathy. "But this week we're playing…" she paused mid-sentence. "...Whatever this game is."

Meanwhile, Nicole had finally finished reading out the rules and everyone, including Gumball, turned their attention towards her.

"Okay, so I've figured it all out," said Nicole. "Gumball, the first turn goes to you. Now go ahead and make your move."

With a heavy sigh, Gumball took a brief glance at the assortment of plastic pieces laid out before him and then looked towards the elaborate layout of the game board. The whole thing might as well have been a miniature labyrinth.

The game had yet to even begin and Gumball was already feeling exhausted. Eager to weasel his way out of this situation, a simple solution suddenly came to him.

With a sneaky smile, he threw up his hands in surrender and calmly said "Okay, I give up."

Which only earned him collective looks of confusion from the rest of the family.

"Huh? Whad'ya mean, Gumball?" asked Darwin.

"I give up," he shrugged. "That means all of you win."

"But we haven't even started yet..." Anais pointed out.

"Yeah because I gave up," replied Gumball. "Great game!" he added with a little clap. "Well, have fun without me."

Gumball began to leave the table only to have his mother stop him right in his tracks.

"Hold it right there, young man!" said Nicole. "This is a _family_ activity. And 'family' means all of us, _including _you."

"Hmph," huffed Gumball, folding his arms. "Well this 'family activity' is no fun! It's the same story every week and I can't take it anymore. Everyone's always obsessed with winning instead of having fun."

"But sweetie..." Nicole began sympathetically. "Winning _is _fun."

"Only for the winner," retorted Gumball. "That's why everyone only picks games that they're good at. Or in your case Mom, games that are _way_ too difficult."

"Oh come now," said Nicole, with her hands on her hips. "This game's not _that_ difficult… right?"

The rest of the family exchanged uneasy looks with each other before Darwin and Anais shook their heads and Richard meekly ducked under the table.

"Are you kidding?" said Gumball, now aghast. "This game's so complicated, they included _instructions_ on how to read the instructions!"

"They did?" said Nicole, turning her attention back to the game box. "Where are they?"

Darwin nervously grinned before placing an origami bird on the table.

"Uh sorry Mrs Mom, I sorta made them into a birdie..." he explained.

Nicole held it up and giggled with faint amusement.

"I'm sorry Mom," interrupted Gumball. "But I don't wanna join in if this is how it's going to be."

"Told ya we should've picked Candyland..." Richard whispered to Anais.

"Hmm, maybe you're right," supposed Nicole. "This game _is _too complicated for its own good. I guess we can play something else.

Having said that, Nicole casually picked up the entire game board with its pieces and threw it to a side, much to everyone else's shock. Nonchalant as ever, Nicole pulled out another game box. One that looked much simpler.

"Hey, what about my notes!?" complained Anais.

"Hmm, you could always make birdies out of them," Darwin innocently suggested.

In merely a few moments, Nicole made short work of unpacking the box and quickly assembling the game pieces together, revealing the game to be _Elmoropoly_.

Anais immediately beamed at the sight, tossing her notes over her shoulder. Gumball on the other hand, rolled his eyes with annoyance.

"How about this one then?" Nicole asked excitedly. "It's not nearly as complicated."

"Mom, that's besides the point..." began Gumball.

"You're right, too boring," said Nicole, carelessly tossing the game board and pieces away before pulling out another game. "How about a good ol' fashioned game of Ludo?"

"But Mom, it's not the game that's the-"

"No no, wait!" Nicole interrupted, tossing the gamebox aside. "Scrabble would be much better!"

"But you don't understand-"

"Ah, say no more, I've got just the thing!" Nicole enthusiastically interrupted once more, as yet another game went crashing into the corner.

"You do realize we'll have to clean all that up later, right?" asked Gumball, narrowing his eyes at his mother.

"Let's play _Go fish_!" announced Nicole. "All we need is a deck of cards. It's as simple as it gets!"

"I don't think I'll like that game…" Darwin nervously confessed.

"_Mom!_ You're not listening to me!" exclaimed Gumball. "I don't care which game we play. But no matter what we pick, everyone's always too obsessed with winning instead of having fun. _That's _the problem."

"What's wrong with a little competitive spirit, dear?" replied Nicole. "After all, the goal of any game is to be the winner."

"As long as we're having fun, we're _all_ winners," Gumball insisted. "Right guys?"

"Speak for yourself," argued Anais.

"I don't think so," added Darwin.

"Nope..." replied Richard.

In hindsight, he should have known better than to look to the others for support. In fact, they were part of the problem but they were like sheep, only following the crowd. The root of the problem was his mother encouraging this sort of behavior.

As much as Gumball respected his mother for everything that she did for them, there were often times where she took things too far. This occasion was one of them.

Unlike the others, Gumball would not back down so easily. He was far too free spirited to play by someone else's rules. He'd play by his rules or he wouldn't play at all.

"You see, honey?" Nicole spoke to her son with pity. "Winning is what really matters. And if you just gave it some effort, you too could be a winner. Then you'd know how great it feels! Don't knock it until you've tried it."

"Ha!" scoffed Gumball, turning away defiantly. "I could beat all of you at any game, any time, any place! I just don't feel the need to prove it..."

It was at that moment, Nicole was struck by inspiration, all thanks to her son's flippant remark. His offhanded statement had given her an excellent idea and suddenly she knew exactly how she could motivate him.

As a leader, Nicole knew Gumball's stubborn attitude could be quite troublesome for her at times. But as a mother, it also made her proud that her son was able to think for himself, as a winner should. All he needed was a little motivation and a push in the right direction.

Instead of asserting her authority as his parent and forcing Gumball to join in, Nicole had a much better idea. She would earn his participation, fair and square. She could very well turn this whole issue into its own little game, or rather one big challenge.

It was the ideal way to infuse Gumball with the competitive spirit. Give him a taste for victory that would leave him wanting more, just like herself.

"Very well then, Gumball," said Nicole, forming a big grin. "Since you want things to be more fun, why don't we make family game night a little more _interesting_?"

That took him by surprise. Gumball had not been expecting her to take him seriously.

"So what, you mean like a bet?" he skeptically inquired.

"That's right," nodded Nicole. "A little wager, if you will..." she added, tapping her fingers together.

"I'm so there!" announced Richard. "I'll raise you ten bucks!" He began fishing into his wallet only to suddenly frown. "Um Nicole, can I borrow ten dollars?"

"Not _that _kind of bet, Richard!" Nicole scolded him. "What I had in mind was a little tournament. With Gumball versus the rest of us."

"_Say what!_? That's totally unfair!" protested Gumball.

"Well Gumball, you did say you could beat us all at 'any game, any time and any place'. Therefore you shouldn't have any problem with it." Nicole reminded him.

"Ugh, me and my big mouth…" Gumball groaned in defeat.

"The rules are simple," explained Nicole, improvising as she went along. "Tomorrow you will face each of us, one by one, in a game of our own choosing. If you win, you get to move on to the next round. But if you lose even once, it's game over!"

"Hmph, I don't have to agree to this," Gumball crossed his arms and looked away.

"Should you beat all of us..." continued Nicole. "I'll give you a very special prize and let you pick what we play for the rest of the year. And if any of us manage to defeat you, they get the prize instead."

Despite himself, the mere mention of a prize immediately got Gumball's attention. Or at the very least piqued his curiosity. Sheepishly, he turned to face his mother again.

"Uh, what kind of prize are we talkin'?" asked Gumball.

Nicole smiled back at him. "You'll have to win in order to find out."

His mother had thrown down the gauntlet. Would Gumball run through it?

He decided to think things over before he made his decision.

On the one hand, all evidence seemed to indicate that this challenge would hardly be worth all the aggravation, no matter how fancy the prize was.

But on the other hand, if he did make an effort and succeed, he wouldn't have to put up with the same ol' family game night routine until next year.

So what did he have to lose?

"Aw fine..." Gumball begrudgingly conceded. "Alright Mom, I accept your challenge. So bring it on!"

"I'm glad to hear that, sweetie," Nicole smiled warmly. "Because if you fail to win, you lose the right to complain in future. And you have to do all my chores for a month."

"_What the what_!?" he gasped. "T-T-That wasn't part of the deal!"

"Well honey," shrugged Nicole. "You didn't wait for me to finish what I had to say. But there's no backing out. You've accepted and a deal is a deal."

"Oh, what have I signed myself up for!?" groaned Gumball, burying his face in his hands.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Now be a good boy and go to bed." Nicole instructed him.

"But Mom, it's too early for bed…"

"Bed now mister!" Nicole pointed to the stairs. "Or else you immediately forfeit!"

Not wasting a single second, Gumball haphazardly made his way upstairs, lest the challenge end before it even began. The other members of the family, all turned their attention towards Nicole, awaiting her commands.

Even though she had drafted them into her plans without their consent, they knew better than to argue with her.

"Okay everyone," said Nicole. "It's time for a little redecorating. So let's get started!"

"Does this mean we're not playing Candyland?" asked Richard.

He was met with a chorus of silence as the others turned to face him with looks of unamusement.

* * *

**End of Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Gauntlet: Chapter Two**

Heeding his mother's orders, Gumball made short work of tucking himself into bed.

"I sure hope Mom doesn't take things too far again…" he mumbled to himself.

Having been sent to bed early, he was not exactly sleepy. But the mere thought of what might be in store for him tomorrow was enough to make him feel exhausted already.

Gumball could not recall how long he lied awake or at what point he fell asleep, but the very next morning, he found himself rudely awoken by the cold air of the great outdoors.

Shivering where he lay, Gumball rolled around searching for his blanket but it was nowhere to be found. Gumball groggily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to observe his surroundings.

"She took it too far again…" he groaned, throwing his face in his hands.

He was still at home in his bed but from the looks of things, his house had received an overnight makeover.

The whole room had been redecorated into what could only be described as a medieval dungeon, complete with thick stone walls, wrought metal decorations, grotesque looking gargoyles and even antique lanterns to provide illumination.

How exactly Gumball's family had achieved such an impressive feat, all in one night no less, remained a mystery…

And just in case he needed further reassurance he was not dreaming, not only was his blanket missing but the glass window had been removed and replaced with a cross shaped wind hole. Someone had obviously been dedicated to their craft.

"Ugh, all this just because I didn't wanna play a stupid game?" lamented Gumball, pulling his own cheeks in frustration and letting out a weary sigh. "Oh well, might as well get this over with…"

Despite appearances, Gumball was pleased to find that his clothes were still right where he left them. Though he was certain his closet didn't have a skeleton inside it the last time he checked.

Having dressed himself, Gumball made his way downstairs, finding the rest of the house to have been redecorated to a medieval theme just as his bedroom had.

With all the windows covered, the living room was shrouded in darkness; the only light coming from a few old fashioned lanterns that hung from the ceiling.

Most of the furniture had been cast aside to make space for a wooden table and two chairs at the center of the room. The same was true for the modern appliances which were either stored away or simply covered up. Curiously the TV remained in its usual place in front of the table.

Perhaps given the TV's antiquity, it wasn't so out of place after all.

The last thing that stood out in Nicole's den of dishevelment was the VHS tape that sat upon the table. A piece of parchment was attached to it; upon it inscribed the words 'PLAY ME NOW'.

"Oh man, do I have to?" complained Gumball, picking the tape up.

As if to answer his question, underneath was another note which said 'YES'.

"Ugh, fine…" Gumball groaned as he placed the tape inside the VCR.

After an interlude of static followed by some electronic beeps and blips, the fuzzy picture began to clear up and a familiar face appeared on screen, donning a crown and a cape.

"Mom?" questioned Gumball, watching her stare back at him from across the screen.

"Welcome, Young Warrior," announced Nicole. "I am _Royal Blue_ and it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Gauntlet of doom!"

"Pfft, Gauntlet of doom?" grinned Gumball, struggling to contain his laughter. "That name is so cheesy even a mouse would pass it up..."

"Before you can have the esteemed honor of facing yours truly," she continued. "You must first defeat each of my minions in a game of their own choosing. And remember, you only get one chance at each game, so you'd better make it count!"

"Yeah yeah, can we hurry this up?" said Gumball, impatiently. "I never liked educational programs..."

"Very well, then. Take your seat and let the first challenge begin!" Nicole boasted from the TV.

"Wait a second," paused Gumball. "Mom, can you hear what I'm saying?"

"Well of course, I can," Nicole rolled her eyes. "I'm only in the next room-I mean, uh…"

His mother briefly stumbled before clumsily getting back into character. "Royal Blue knows not of this _Mom _of which you speak! And I uh… uh, this-conversation-is-over-bye!"

Nicole hastily turned off the video feed and the TV screen went blank. Gumball could not help but giggle at his mother's little slip up, given how seriously she was taking this whole thing.

...

Gumball took a seat at the table and sure enough, his first opponent entered the room and took the seat opposite him. Dressed in their cheap Halloween costume from the year prior and donning an oversized helmet, his opponent spoke to him.

But given the over modulated voice of the mask, Gumball had a hard time understanding what they said.

"Uh, Dad?" began Gumball. "Could you say that again and maybe try using words this time?"

Richard sighed, pulling off his _Stellar Odyssey_ helmet and spoke again.

"I said, greetings Young One! I am the keeper of the fridge! You must pass my challenge if you wish to proceed."

"Yeah yeah, I know," dismissed Gumball. "Now what's the challenge?"

Richard responded by slamming a cloche tray on the table and lifting the lid to reveal its hidden contents.

"Behold!" Richard boasted with great theatrics and spirit.

Gumball flinched, not knowing what to expect. But upon closer inspection, he was almost disappointed.

"A sandwich?" he questioned.

"Oh no, not just _any _sandwich," Richard waved his finger. "This is the _Ultimate _Sandwich! Forged from only the finest ingredients, my masterpiece is composed of iceberg lettuce imported from the arctic!"

"The arctic?" repeated Gumball.

"Splendidly smoked sausages and succulent salami!" Richard continued.

"Wow…" Gumball licked his lips.

"Magnificently melted mozzarella cheese!" added Richard.

"Double wow..." replied Gumball.

"Caramelized onions, so good they'll make you cry!"

"They will?" sniffled Gumball.

"_Two_ thousand island dressing-"

"That's a thing!?"

"-Packed between two slices of perfectly baked whole wheat bread and a pinch of the finest sea salt in all the seven seas."

Gumball said no more, but the rumbling sounds of his stomach spoke for themselves. There was no denying this was a fine specimen of a sandwich, if not the finest he had ever seen.

"Alright, I get it, it's a very nice sandwich," confessed Gumball. "But what does it have to do with the challenge?"

"It's quite simple, my young szechuan," Richard leaned back on his chair with his arms folded. "If you can survive sitting in front of the Ultimate Sandwich for a total of ten minutes without eating it, you have bested me. But as if you could ever win! There's no way anyone could resist eating such a culinary delight straight away…"

Gumball was dumbstruck. He just could not believe his luck. Surely, it couldn't be _this _easy?

About ten minutes later, Richard pathetically shuffled out of the room sobbing over the loss of his masterpiece while Gumball remained, happily chowing down on his prize.

…

The next opponent entered the fray.

Her costume was more formal than imaginative, being composed of a gray business suit and a pair of pointy glasses. Gumball barely acknowledged her, as he continued to wolf down his spoils of victory.

"Enjoy your breakfast, Gumball," grinned Anais. "Because you won't be so confident once you see what I have in store for you."

Gumball raised a finger, signaling the need for a moment. After swallowing the remaining mouthful of sandwich he finally spoke.

"Oh, please…" scoffed Gumball. "If your challenge is anything like the last one, I think I'll be just fine."

"Come on, Gumball," Anais rolled her eyes. "We both know that Dad's game was just a formality. The real challenge starts and ends with me. I'm the smartest in the family and there's no way a dummy like you can beat _me_."

"It takes more than smarts to win," Gumball argued back. "You also need a little bit of luck."

"Is that so?" said Anais, raising an eyebrow. "Then let's put our theories to the test. It's my smarts versus your dumb luck."

"Just name your game," he replied defiantly.

Anais didn't need telling twice. With an incredibly smug grin, she pulled out a wooden tray carrying her game of choice.

"Well, here it is!" she announced, in a conniving tone.

How typical of her. Of all the things she could have chosen, Anais went with something that would flaunt her intelligence.

On the tray sat two identical, multi-colored cubes, with each face divided into nine squares.

"Rubik's cubes?" noted Gumball.

Placed behind them was a digital timer, it's crimson red numerals indicating that it had been set to sixty seconds.

"Here are the rules," Anais explained. "We take each other's cubes and get one minute to shuffle them however we want. Then we swap back. Whoever solves their cube first by restoring all the colors to normal, wins the game. Any questions?"

As clichéd as the concept was, Gumball found himself nervously caught by surprise. Solving puzzles was Anais' forte. And she knew darn well that her brother was hopeless at them.

Even if by some miracle he could actually manage to solve his cube, there was no way he'd be able to do it before she did. To say the odds were stacked in her favor would be an understatement. On paper, victory was all but assured for her.

But there was one oversight to all of Anais' scheming.

Although he was not as scholarly as his sister, Gumball was smart in a different way. When push came to shove, his resourcefulness was on a greater level than she could have ever imagined.

Gumball knew that there was only _one _way to ensure victory in a rigged game.

Perhaps influenced by the stress of the situation, he had quickly formulated his strategy on the fly. Whether or not he could actually pull it off, even he had no idea. They would soon find out...

He faced his little sister with skepticism and spoke.

"So we can shuffle each other's cubes _however _we want? And whoever solves their cube first wins?"

"That's right," nodded Anais.

"And there are no other rules?" asked Gumball.

"Nope," she replied, crossing her arms. "So, are you still feeling lucky? There's still a chance to back out before you humiliate yourself. What do you say, big brother?"

"I say... bring it on!" he grinned back at her defiant as ever .

"Then you really are as dumb as they come!" she chuckled, starting the timer.

Swiftly snatching their cubes off the table, both siblings got to work mixing them up. The seconds quickly passed by and all that could be heard was the clicking-and-clacking of the cubes being contorted.

Anais took her sweet time mixing up her cube while Gumball frantically twisted and turned his own. She could tell he was nervous yet determined. It was almost admirable.

"Aw darn it," cursed Gumball, as the cube slipped out of his fingers and on to the floor.

He hastily retrieved it as Anais snickered to herself. This was proving to be almost _too _easy.

Finally, the awful electronic beeping of the timer brought both of them to a halt.

"Hah, time's up," declared Anais. "Now we switch back."

"Fine…" replied Gumball.

Anais beamed with confidence witnessing her brother's obvious expression of defeat as they switched back their cubes. This game wouldn't take long...

It didn't matter how many times Gumball had shuffled her cube. Any Rubik's cube could be solved in twenty six moves or less.

'_And I should only need a few minutes to figure it out…' _Anais thought to herself.

She casually began fiddling with her cube, eager to take her time and watch her brother's struggle to keep up. But much to her surprise, he suddenly didn't seem bothered at all. He hadn't even turned a single side yet.

"Batter up…" he whispered, raising his cube high in the air.

Perplexed by her brother's odd behaviour, Anais couldn't help stopping to take notice.

"Huh? What are you…?" she mumbled.

Then with no warning, Gumball swung the Rubik's cube down, slamming it against the hard surface of the table, shattering the cube into pieces. Anais blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what he was doing.

Following that little distraction, Gumball wasted no time picking up the scattered pieces, like he was playing a game of _knucklebones_. With the separately colored pieces now in hand, he quickly got to work putting the pieces back into place as Anais looked on.

Suddenly, it all made sense to her...

Gumball knew he couldn't solve the puzzle logically, so he was going to solve it illogically. There was no rule that said he couldn't break the cube and solve it by reassembling it.

Though his little trick had evened up the odds, Anais remained unconcerned. Because she had been going easy on him this whole time. Only now, was she going to start playing seriously.

"That was a clever trick, Gumball," admitted Anais. "But I can still solve my cube faster than you, the old fashioned way!"

"We'll just see about that!" goaded Gumball.

Another intense minute went by, filled with the _clackity-clack_ sounds of the cubes continually being contorted. Try as he could, for every piece Gumball managed to put in place, Anais remained one step ahead.

Until finally…

"Done!" announced Anais, placing her cube on the table.

"Me too," replied Gumball, snapping in the final piece of his cube and placing it next to hers.

"Haha, I win, I win!" exclaimed Anais. "I solved my cube one second before you did therefore I've won!"

Gumball said nothing, hanging his head low as Anais laughed heartily, relishing her victory.

"Even your dumb technique was no match for my brain," she said while tapping her head. "Sorry Gumball, but there are no prizes for second place."

But then... ever so quietly, Gumball made a little noise. At first, it seemed like he was actually going to break down into tears. However, upon closer inspection, he was… chuckling?

His little fit of giggles quickly descended into a full on fit of laughter.

"Huh?" said Anais, taken aback. "Just, what's so funny?"

She had not expected him to face his defeat with dignity much less with laughter.

"You're so predictable," said Gumball smugly, leaning back in his chair. "You might wanna look at your cube again because it doesn't look solved to me."

"What are you talking about?" said Anais, incredulously. "Of course, it's solved. Why, all the sides clearly match-huh!?"

Anais gazed down in absolute, unimaginable horror as noticed her little oversight. The cube was _almost _solved. But two squares impossibly remained in the wrong places, right next to each other. It was as if their colors had magically swapped places while she had been shuffling the cube.

"B-B-But how?" she gasped breathlessly. "T-T-There's no way I could've made a mistake…"

"Well, it looks like you did," shrugged Gumball. "The proof is sitting right there before you."

"No, there's no way!" Anais panicked.

Frantically, she looked at her cube and then back to his and then back and forth again. She was about ready to descend into hysterics from pure disbelief.

"Y-You must've cheated!" she spoke accusingly.

"How so?" argued Gumball. "Exactly, what rule did I break?"

"You uh… but I… you just…" Anais struggled to find the words. "I don't understand, it doesn't make any sense…" she rested her head in her arms, pulling her long rabbit ears.

"Then allow me to explain," said Gumball, relaxed and composed as ever. "Breaking my cube was only _part _of my strategy. You said we could shuffle the cube however we wanted, right? Well, that's exactly what I did."

Gumball chuckled again, taking delight in explaining his amazing plan.

"While I was shuffling your cube, I made sure to swap two of the stickers before I gave it back to you. By swapping two stickers, it becomes impossible to solve the Rubik's cube the normal way. But there's no rule saying that I couldn't do that."

"But how!?" demanded Anais. "I was watching you the whole time, there's no way...!?"

And then, she remembered… The memory came back to hit her like a speeding truck.

That moment where he had fumbled and dropped his cube. She thought he was just being clumsy but no, he must have done that _intentionally _to make her lower her guard!

"You swapped them while you dropped the cube…" murmured Anais.

"Precisely," nodded Gumball. "You were just so sure that you'd win, you failed to see what was right in front of you the whole time."

Her big brother's words rang true and grim realization dawned upon her.

"Are you saying that you… you _outsmarted _me!?" exclaimed Anais with great shock.

"That's right," grinned Gumball. "You might be smart Anais but you're also big headed. And that's what makes you so predictable. Let me guess, next you'll say, _No, I can't possibly lose to you!_"

"No, I can't possibly lose to you!" cried Anais only to sharply gasp as Gumball's words rang true yet again.

"Sorry little sis, but there's no prizes for second place."

A taste of her own medicine, it was definitely a bitter pill for her to swallow.

Forced to admit defeat, Anais meekly left the room on wobbly legs, constantly mumbling to herself _'How could I lose?' _over and over again.

The only way to ensure victory in a rigged game… was to cheat without getting caught.

Gumball had lucked out on the first two challenges but would his luck last through the remaining two? He could only hope so...

* * *

**End of Chapter Two**


End file.
